Who is responsible for repairs in a leasehold flat?

The lease divides the building between what you own and what the freeholder maintains, and every repair argument turns on that line. How to find it, who pays, and what to do when nothing happens.

Difficulty: intermediate
Time: 12 min
Read: 5 min

Short answer

The lease defines the demised premises — usually the inside of the flat — and gives the landlord responsibility for the structure, the roof, the common parts and often the windows, recovered through the service charge. Read the demise clause and the landlord's covenants together. Where the landlord will not repair, the routes are a written demand, the council's environmental health team, and an application to the First-tier Tribunal.

Almost every leasehold repair dispute is really a definition dispute. Whether a leaking flat roof, a cracked window frame or a failed communal pipe is your problem depends on where the lease draws the boundary of your flat, and leases differ — some include the windows, some do not; some include the ceiling plaster, some the joists. Reading the actual clause takes ten minutes and settles most arguments.

Step by step

Find the demise clause.It defines exactly what you own: usually the internal surfaces, the internal walls, the floor coverings and the fixtures, and sometimes more. Look for whether it includes windows, doors, plaster, joists and any balcony or loft space.
Then find the landlord's covenants.A separate part of the lease sets out what the landlord must maintain — typically the structure, the roof, the exterior, the common parts, the lifts, and the shared services — and how the cost is recovered. The two clauses together map the whole building.
Work out who pays for what you own.Anything inside the demise is yours to repair at your own cost. Anything in the landlord's part is theirs to do, with the cost recovered through the service charge — so you pay a share of it either way, but you do not organise it.
Check the insurance position.The building is usually insured by the landlord or the management company and the premium recovered through the service charge. Damage from an insured event — an escape of water, a storm — is often an insurance claim rather than a repair dispute. Ask for the policy schedule and the excess.
Report in writing, with photographs and dates.To the managing agent if there is one, and to the freeholder or management company. Repair cases are built on a documented sequence of reports, and a verbal report to a caretaker is not one.
Escalate through the formal complaints route.A managing agent who is a member of a professional body or a redress scheme has a complaints procedure and an ombudsman above it. Use it, in order, and keep the final response.
Use the council for hazards.Where disrepair creates a hazard to health or safety, the council's environmental health team can inspect and serve notices on the person responsible for the building. This works for owner-occupiers as well as tenants and is under-used by leaseholders.
Apply to the tribunal where the lease is being breached.The First-tier Tribunal can determine whether a landlord is in breach of a covenant in the lease, and can also determine whether service charges are reasonable. That determination is what unlocks further action.
Consider Right to Manage if the problem is chronic.Where the underlying issue is a landlord or agent who does not maintain the building, taking over management is the structural fix rather than fighting each repair individually.
Do not do the work yourself and deduct it.Carrying out repairs to the landlord's part and setting the cost against the service charge is legally risky and usually a breach of the lease. Take advice before doing anything of the kind.
Keep paying the service charge.Withholding is the fastest way to convert a repair dispute into an arrears problem, and unpaid service charges can put a lease at risk. Pay, and pursue the repair through the routes above.

Tips

Highlight the demise clause and the landlord's covenants in your copy of the lease and keep them together. You will refer to them repeatedly.
Ask for the building insurance schedule and excess once a year. It tells you which problems are claims rather than repairs.
Report everything in writing with a photograph and a date, even small things. Patterns matter and only a record shows one.

Common mistakes

Arguing about fairness rather than the lease — The lease decides it. Repair disputes are resolved by reading the demise clause, not by what seems reasonable.
Reporting verbally — The written record is the case. Photographs, dates and emails are what a tribunal or an ombudsman reads.

If it doesn't work

The managing agent is not responding

Cause: Understaffing, or a repair nobody has accepted responsibility for — Fix: Escalate in writing to the named complaints contact, then to the freeholder or the management company directors, then to the agent's redress scheme. Keep the chain of correspondence.

The roof leaks and the reserve fund is empty

Cause: Underfunding over years — Fix: The landlord still has to comply with the covenant. Expect a statutory consultation for major works and a bill. Engage with the consultation, because that is the point at which leaseholders can influence scope and cost.

Nobody can say whether it is your responsibility

Cause: An ambiguous demise clause — Fix: Ask a solicitor to read the demise and the landlord's covenants together and give you a written view. It is a small piece of work and it settles the argument.

Questions people ask

Are the windows mine or the freeholder's?

It depends entirely on the demise clause. Some leases include the window frames and glass in the flat; others keep them in the landlord's part. Read the clause — this is the most common single argument in leasehold blocks.

Water is coming in from the flat above. Whose problem is it?

Usually the upstairs leaseholder's, if it comes from within their demise, and often an insurance matter. Report it to the managing agent as well, because the building insurance and the landlord's covenants may both be engaged.

Can I withhold service charge until they fix it?

It is a bad idea. Arrears can be pursued and can put a lease at risk, and a tribunal is far more sympathetic to a leaseholder who paid and complained than to one who withheld.

Is this the same in Scotland?

No. Scotland uses a different tenure and its own rules on common repairs in tenements, including the Tenement Management Scheme. Take Scottish advice.